GM hoping NHL agreement brings more fans

Huntsville Forester

BRACEBRIDGE - The NHL lockout had the opposite effect on junior hockey than the Bracebridge Phantoms general manager was hoping for.
Tim Dickieson is crossing his fingers that with the NHL back on the ice, more fans will start attending junior hockey games.
“Originally I thought it (the lockout) was going to be great for fan support, if there was no hockey they’d come out and support the junior, but I think it had a reverse effect. I think NHL hockey was out of sight, out of mind,” he said.
Dickieson said with no NHL the atmosphere in the locker room has also changed.
The TV’s off in the junior hockey change rooms because players don’t have anything to watch, he said.
Dal Telford, general manager for the South Muskoka Shield, said their locker rooms are also noticing a change.
“We’re all glad to see it back and it creates a little more discussion and rivalries with guys’ favourite teams within our locker room,” he said.
Aside from locker room jesting, Telford said the NHL deliberations didn’t have an effect on Junior A Hockey this year, though he’s not sure what to expect for next year.
“A lot of guys in the NHL were playing down a tier, which affects jobs of the guys who are regulars in that tier and it just sort of notches down level to level to level,” he said. “Us being, in terms of the NHL, the very low guy on the totem pole, you know, there might be a team or two that sees one player trickle down, but I don’t see any major thing happening.”
With the NHL heading back to the ice and making its way over the air waves to local change rooms and living rooms, Dickieson is hoping it will also revive the spirit for hockey and bring more people out to watch the game.
He has his hopes high for the first-year team despite competing with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night, which is the same night as the team’s home games.
“Especially if we win that championship we’re hoping for, it’ll be hard to keep us off the radar,” he said.